U.S. Millennials Outvoted Baby Boomers In 2016 Election

Baby Boomers Outvoted by Millenials

Generation Zers, Millennials and Generation Xers cast 69.6 million votes in the 2016 general election, a slight majority of the 137.5 million total votes cast, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. Meanwhile, Boomers and older voters represented fewer than half of all votes for the first time. The shift has occurred as Millennials accounted for a growing share of the electorate and as those in the Silent and Greatest generations aged and died.

Millennials (those ages 20 to 35 in 2016) reported casting 31.3 million votes last November, a steep rise from the 18.4 million votes they cast in 2008. But, despite the larger size of the Millennial generation, the Millennial vote has yet to eclipse the Gen X vote, as 35.7 million Gen Xers (ages 36 to 51 in 2016) reported voting last year.

It is likely, though not certain, that the size of the Millennial vote will approach the Gen X vote in the 2020 presidential election. The Millennial generation as a whole is larger than Gen X in absolute size. In addition, the ranks of the nation’s Millennials are growing faster than older generations due to immigration, which is likely to be accompanied by increased naturalizations. As a result, Millennials are closing in on Boomers as the largest generation in the electorate. pewresearch

Millennials and Generation X-ers cast more votes than baby boomers in the 2016 presidential election, according to a Pew Research study.

The analysis, which used U.S. Census Bureau data and was published Monday, reveals that Millennials and members of Generation X cast 69.6 million votes in last year’s election — a slight majority of the 137.5 million total votes cast.

Meanwhile, baby boomers, who are ages 51 to 69, accounted for fewer than half of the votes in recent decades.

Richard Fry, a senior Pew Center researcher, wrote in the study that millennials are likely to surpass the Generation X vote in the 2020 presidential election.

“Millennials are growing faster than older generations due to immigration, which is likely to be accompanied by increased naturalizations,” Fry said. “As a result, Millennials are likely to be the only adult generation whose number of eligible voters will appreciably increase in the coming years.”

Millennials, people aged 18 to 35, comprised 25% of the votes, while Generation X, those ages 36 to 51, represented 26% of the vote.

In the 2004 election, baby boomers cast 50.1 million votes with a 69% turnout. Frye attributes the declining baby boomer vote due to emigration or death. nydailynews

Back in June when the UK voted in favor of Brexit, polls showed that British pensioners were three times more likely than younger voters to want to sever ties with the EU. Many young Remain supporters still blame an older generation with secure jobs and pensions for depriving them of the freedom to live and work across Europe. The U.S. presidential election reveals a similar generational divide with the majority of young Americans voting for Clinton.

This year, for the first time, Millennials and Baby Boomers enjoyed a relatively equal playing field in terms of electorate size. However, in 2012, only 46 percent of eligible Millennials turned out to vote compared to 69 percent of Baby Boomers. Even though turnout rates this year are still unclear, a lack of enthusiasm among younger voters may have cost Clinton the presidency. Exit polls reveal that the majority of young people that did go out and vote were behind Clinton with 55 and 50 percent of 18-29 and 30-44 year-olds voting for her respectively.

Older voters have endorsed the Republican ticket in recent years and 2016 is no different. Trump strongly appeals to an older cohort who are proud and nostalgic about their nation’s history and less dependent on jobs and education. Young people disheartened today will just have to suck it up and drastically improve their turnout in four years. Forbes

Baby Boomers Outvoted by Millenials

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